Under the envious gazes of everyone, Jiang Mian walked over to Cheng Ye’s side.
Cheng Ye was momentarily stunned. In his previous life, Jiang Mian had never transferred into his class. Could this be the butterfly effect?
He quickly came back to his senses, stood up, and made space for her so she could enter and take the window seat.
As Jiang Mian passed by him, a faint, refreshing scent of lavender drifted into his nose, soft yet lingering.
Only after she sat down did Cheng Ye slowly take his seat again.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class.
Perhaps because of his past experience working in a factory, and also because this wasn’t their first meeting in this life, Cheng Ye didn’t feel particularly unfamiliar with her. He turned slightly and asked, “Why did you come to my class?”
Jiang Mian suddenly leaned closer, her bright, star-like eyes fixed unblinkingly on his face, “To see a handsome guy.”
Cheng Ye fell silent.
She smiled lightly and waved it off, taking her books out of her bag as she explained, “Just kidding. I couldn’t keep up with the pace of studying abroad, so my parents transferred me to Yahua High School.”
Cheng Ye thought for a moment, then asked, “You don’t like studying?”
“Kind of.” Jiang Mian rested her chin on one hand, looking a little dejected, “Studying is just so boring.”
Cheng Ye couldn’t help but smile. No wonder, in his previous life, her parents had sent her to work in a factory to ‘reform’ her.
From a friend’s perspective, he gently reminded her, “Then you’d better study seriously. Otherwise, your parents might send you to work in a factory.”
Jiang Mian paused for a moment. Work in a factory?
Her parents’ group did indeed own quite a few factories.
However, she simply took Cheng Ye’s words as a tactful way of urging her to study hard.
Since it was advice from her future husband, of course she would listen.
However, when Jiang Mian flipped through the high school math textbook and saw the example problems on it, drowsiness quickly crept over her.
Weren’t these concepts something she had already learned at the age of seven?
She sighed in defeat and turned to Cheng Ye, “Cheng Ye, I can’t understand these example problems at all.”
Cheng Ye had nothing better to do anyway, so he said, “I’ll teach you.”
Jiang Mian’s eyes instantly lit up, “Mm-hmm.”
The next period was self-study, and the two of them quietly discussed the problems.
But Jiang Mian’s thoughts were completely elsewhere. She had wanted to hug Cheng Ye for a long time, yet she couldn’t.
It made her feel so troubled.
At noon, Chu Xiyan and Chen Yang returned.
Cheng Fenghao immediately handed Chu Xiyan an exquisite lunchbox, “Xiyan, this is the lunch I prepared for you.”
Chu Xiyan smiled as she accepted it, “Fenghao, you’re as considerate as ever.”
Cheng Fenghao shook his head slightly, pressing his lips together shyly, “It’s only natural. Xiyan, whose lunch tastes better, mine or Cheng Ye’s?”
The contradiction was suddenly directed at Cheng Ye.
Chu Xiyan frowned in dissatisfaction, “He’s never even shown any intention.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced toward Cheng Ye and saw that he was already walking out of the classroom shoulder to shoulder with the new transfer student.
Being so close to another girl, he completely ignored her, his fiancée.
A surge of anger rose in Chu Xiyan’s chest. Cheng Ye was being too much… he had no sense of boundaries at all!
A trace of triumph flashed through Cheng Fenghao’s eyes. The reason he had asked such a random question was simply to make Chu Xiyan notice how intimate Cheng Ye and Jiang Mian appeared.
That way, Chu Xiyan would dislike Cheng Ye even more.
Although Cheng Ye had already cut ties with the Cheng family, posing little threat to Cheng Fenghao’s position as the heir, what if Cheng Ye was playing some kind of strategic game?
Retreating in order to advance, making him lower his guard.
Considering this possibility, Cheng Fenghao knew he had to prevent any unfavorable situation from arising.
Chu Xiyan was still someone he intended to win over.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel unwilling about Jiang Mian getting close to Cheng Ye.
Clearly, he was the pride of Yahua High School, while Cheng Ye was nothing more than a disgraced nobody.
But soon, he figured it out. Although Jiang Mian was more beautiful than Chu Xiyan, her family background couldn’t compare to the prestigious Chu family.
At first, he had thought Jiang Mian was the daughter of the top-tier Jiang family, so he had people investigate her. The result was disappointing… the information showed it was merely a coincidence of surname.
Jiang Mian was not the Jiang family’s daughter.
Just like Cheng Ye, she had grown up in an orphanage, and even the same one.
Cheng Fenghao attributed Jiang Mian’s closeness to Cheng Ye entirely to the fact that they had already known each other from their time in the orphanage.
With that thought, a sense of superiority rose within him.
A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he made calls to Father Cheng, Mother Cheng, and his three sisters.
At the entrance of the Fifth Cafeteria.
Cheng Ye and Jiang Mian had just finished lunch and stepped outside when they were suddenly surrounded by Father Cheng, Mother Cheng, and his three sisters.
Startled, Jiang Mian instinctively hid behind Cheng Ye.
Father Cheng’s face was cold as he scolded, “Cheng Ye, you’ve truly disappointed me! You already have an engagement, yet you’re getting close to another girl. What do you mean by this?!”
After Cheng Ye ran away from home, Father Cheng had already begun to regret it that very night.
The engagement between the Cheng family and the Chu family was written in black and white… it couldn’t be easily changed.
It was a childhood betrothal decided by the elders. As the younger generation, how could they casually change the person involved?
Otherwise, Father Cheng would have long arranged for Cheng Fenghao and Chu Xiyan to be together.
The eldest sister spoke indignantly, “Cheng Ye, don’t be so selfish. Have you ever considered the Chu family’s dignity with what you’re doing?!”
Mother Cheng’s voice trembled as she cried, “Xiao Ye, you’ll put the Cheng family in a very awkward position. Hurry and keep your distance from this girl. You two are not suitable.”
Cheng Ye felt it was utterly ridiculous.
He had already severed ties, yet these people from the Cheng family still came to interfere in his normal life… even trying to control who he befriended.
Even if they didn’t care about him, even if they were distant and disgusted by him, they still wanted to squeeze out his last bit of value, turning him into a tool for a powerful family alliance.
Why?!
Father Cheng’s gaze turned dark and sinister, “Cheng Ye, I’m not here to negotiate with you. I’ve already investigated her background thoroughly. It’s extremely ordinary. There’s no future between you two.”
In Father Cheng’s eyes, Cheng Ye shouldn’t have any female friends at all. He had to remain absolutely loyal to Chu Xiyan.
Unless the engagement changed and Cheng Fenghao became Chu Xiyan’s fiancé.
Otherwise, before that happened, Father Cheng would not allow Cheng Ye to have any interest in other girls… not even as ordinary friends.
Cheng Ye’s voice turned icy, “Cancel the engagement immediately. I don’t care for it.”
Father Cheng’s face darkened. As his biological father, Cheng Ye showed him no respect or reverence at all… always going against him in everything.
“It seems we’ve been too lenient with you,” Father Cheng said angrily, “You hit your younger brother at your birthday banquet, severed ties in front of all the guests and ran away from home… and now you want to cancel the engagement out of spite.”
His anger surged like a storm, “Cheng Ye, do you even realize that by doing this, you’re destroying your own future?!”
“I’m not just disappointed in you anymore… I’m completely despairing!!” Father Cheng roared, pointing furiously at Cheng Ye.
Mother Cheng wept, tears streaming down her face, “Xiao Ye, I’ve told you before, both you and Fenghao are my children. You don’t need to be jealous of him, and you shouldn’t oppose us like this.”
“You carry the Cheng family’s blood. There’s no way we wouldn’t care about you.”
“At the same time, Fenghao has been with us for eighteen years. Isn’t it only natural that we value him?”